[Jody M]

I am an adoptee who is grateful to have been given the gift of life and adoption. I recognize that when I was born in 1955, abortion was not a legal option.
Today I happened to be reading some of the internet articles on one of the hot topic issues of this campaign season- Abortion. On the website Catholic dot org today Sept. 9th I read the quote and article by Archbishop Chaput of Denver CO.
"Abortion is a foundational issue; it is not an issue like housing policy or the price of foreign oil. It always involves the intentional killing of an innocent life, and it is always, grievously wrong."
I am not ashamed to say I am pro-life. I am not a Catholic but I embrace the beautiful convictions many Catholics (and others) have on the sanctity of human life. Catholics have been much more vocal and pro-active in protecting the unborn and the sanctity of human life than many Protestants.
In 1955, when I was born, the law protected me as a baby in an unplanned pregnancy to be born and have rights. My birth mother was 32 when I was born. She had cancer, a communicable disease and a myriad of family and social issues that left no room for another child. Her marriage to my birth father was rocky and both my birth parents struggled with alcoholism.They also had 3 other daughters to consider. Giving birth to me was a high risk for my birth mother in 1955- and today would have been a reason many would chose abortion without debate. But thankfully, the precious law protected me and I was born two months early. My birth mother survived my birth. My birth parents made a beautiful adoption plan for me. Abortion was not an option then. I was an answer to my adoptive families prayers and pleas for a child that they could not conceive.
I have a very soft place in my heart for the unborn and their rights as I realize that had I been conceived today when abortion is legal, I would likely have been aborted. Who has a voice for the unborn today with the law not protecting the unborn? I hope that we who were blessed to have been given the gift of life - will pray over these important issues as we have the privilege to vote. When you vote this November will you remember the gift of life you have been given and remember "the least of these". The unborn who have no voice and cannot protect themselves. Embrace those leaders who unashamedly speak for the unborn, the pro-life stance and stand firm in their convictions in a brutal political arena.

[BrockBaby]

I too am pro-life. My bmom was so kind to tell me OVER and OVER how the doctor wanted her to have an abortion...but it was too late. So I finally got fed up and said, "well would you have" and she sighed and said..let me think about this..and then said probably. Geez Thanks! I am sorry, even if you thought that, not sure why you would have said it. Well I know why she said it...to make me feel bad, for manipulation reasons..to show me I OWED her...however her little scheme didn't work.

[Jody M]

Thanks Brock Baby for your post and I am so sorry your birth mother shared such painful words to you. Each life is of precious value and worth- that is the way God created us. We must embrace that truth and know it and internalize it.
Many birth mothers who experienced unplanned pregnancies decades ago were often in crisis situations and extremely challenging circumstances. Often they felt abandoned by their boyfriends, husbands, spouses and famlies at the time in life when they truly needed the most support.(emotionally, physically, economically and spiritually) I do not believe that any birth mothers truly hated their unborn babes or felt any ill will towards them.But the seemingly insurmountable challenges they faced were overwhelming. (It is so different today and birth mothers have LOTS of resources, options, and support) The majority of birth mothers I have meet the past 13 years in the local and online groups that I have facilitated have loved their babies in the womb. Many longed to parent them. But without support in the unforgiving social culture many of them lived in that did not support unwed mothers, coupled with their families shame and inability to support their feelings and decisions,nor support them financially they were between a rock and a hard place.

God's word reassures us that though our birth mothers may have not had the ability to parent us (though many of them inwardly longed to), God never has forgotten us and always had a plan for our lives:
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Isaiah 49:1, 6, 15

“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
Hebrews 13:5

[EZ2Luv]

I am pro life too and truley believe that if abortions were easily available in 1955 my bmom would have been first in line. Thank God the laws protected me to my right to life. I am doubly blessed because God saw fit for me to have the best parents in the world and be a part of a family thet He designed.

EZ

[Jody M]

EZ, Thanks for your beautiful testimony and your life is beautiful and one that God planned. I LOVE portions of Psalm 139 which Adoptees can celebrate that though their birth parents may have not had a plan for their lives that God did from the beginning.
A psalm of David.

O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away.

3 You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

5 You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!

7 I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead,* you are there.1

9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night--

12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,* O God! They are innumerable!

[Jody M]

The presidential 2008 election this year is fast approaching. It seems like we have been in this race for a LONG time considering some candidates began about a year and a half ago.Now that we are on the home stretch and the political party conventions are over- the American people are making their decisions on who to vote for. The battles and attacks we know will be fierce on the opposing issues. Many people are apathetic on the topic of abortion. Many people have not been touched by an unplanned pregnancy or adoption. So they dismiss this as a minor issue for Americans. And
yet it is a FOUNDATIONAL, CORE issue that touches every human being. I am a Christian and a Protestant. I have watched as Catholic persons and clergy have taken the lead is speaking out for the unborn and the sanctity of Life. Archbishop Chaput of Denver CO had this quote on a website I saw today called Catholic dot org. "Abortion is a foundational issue; it is not an issue like housing policy or the price of foreign oil. It always involves the intentional killing of an innocent life, and it is always, grievously wrong."
I believe that a true judge of character for any person or nation is whether they defend and support "the least of these" the unborn who have no voice.
We who are adoptees are touched by ADOPTION and the precious issues of LIFE. Will you speak out through sharing your adoption story, writing a letter to your relatives, friends, internet mailing list, to the editor of your local newspaper or church or community group or organization sharing your passion?? You don't have to be a writer or write a book to touch countless people. Your simple passion for life and being given the gift of life and adoption even written in a paragraph or two speaks VOLUMES! Take a moment and think of the unborn babes today that have been conceived in unplanned pregnancies. They do not have a voice that speaks to defend their lives, but you can speak/write for them.
There are no grey areas on this topic this election- Candidates either support LIFE or the right to Abortion (Pro-Choice)

Please Share your articles, letters and posts and responses here.Let's leave our comfortable pews in church and overcommitted and busy lives and stop and pray for how we can do something NOW, even in a
small way to speak for Life, the Unborn and impact this election!

Blessings and Prayers,
Jody Moreen

[EZ2Luv]

Your very welcome Jody. I honestly believe it wasn't for my strong Christain faith I would have been like some of these adoptees with serious issues. My faith has allowed me to accept that while given up by one woman, I was placed right where God meant me to be. I understand how some adoptees are curious (I have never been) but I am grateful that the void that some adoptees feel was filled the minute I was placed in my Sweet aMomma's arms. (see my avatar).

EZ

[Jody M]

Thanks EZ for sharing! I would echo your story that I was blessed too with a wonderful adoptive family! That is a blessing but I know that just as in all families, there are some good and some not so good- some adoptive homes are great and some are not the best. I grew up never desiring to know my back round, birth or adoption story, but that changed when I had my own children and pondered my life- long mystery. My search and reunion with my birth sisters over 10 years ago only reaffirmed my gratitude for being adopted. Hearing my true story and the challenges and complications my birth parents faced, helped me to more fully understand my birth parents inability to parent me. My birth sisters had a hard life and my birth mother abandonded the family and marriage after my birth due to alcoholism and her rocky marriage and my birth father who also struggle with alcohol. I also found my full ethnic and medical backround and was able to share my Christian faith with my 3 birth sisters that I met- (they were told I died at birth when my birth mother did not bring me home from the hospital- I was placed for adoption as a family secret- which was odd for my birth parents were married- and my birth mom 32 and my birth father 50 when I was born.) I also felt transformed to for the first time see my physical traits mirrrored in others for the first time- no that is not the most important part of our identity- but for me it was so wonderful to fill in this missing piece of my past- my birth parents were deceased when I found my sisters. My sister provided me with wonderful pictures and history of my birth parents- I look more like my birth mom than any of my sisters. My search and reunion lead me to attend support groups. I also know my true ethnic heritage- German/Norwegian which has been a fun discovery.
God has given me the wonderful privilege to facilitate an adoption triad support group in the Chicagoland western suburbs - now going on 10 years this month! The group exisits to provide a safe place for adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents of older and adult adoptees to share their adoption stories, experiences, emotions, questions and find books and resources on adoption. Many persons need to understand their past, to grieve their losses, to correct false information they've been given and to put to rest the mystery of their lives. I have seen much transformation and healing in many lives touched by adoption by this adoption triad format. Fosters much education, support, understanding and encouragement to share one's true feelings without fear of criticism or judgement.
Blessings to you EZ and its great to have you here and to hear of your blessings as an adoptee!!
Jody

[SWGAgirl]

I asked my b-mom that too- if she would have had an abortion if it had been legal in the early 60's..........and she said- "Probably so."

And you know- that did not bother me at all and I took no offense at it - because she was being honest. I appreciate that honesty. To tell the truth- I don't blame her one bit.

There are a lot of women who when faced with an unplanned pregnancy (back then or right now) would end up having an abortion- even though many may not have the guts to admit it. Thank God they STILL have still have a choice; and the government has not taken yet another freedom away so that women don't have to go and get dangerous back street abortions.

If my b-mom had aborted me, I'd be up with God anyway - that can't be so bad, can it? I'd probably be up there eating cheesecake and drinking champagne and flying around or listening to the angels play their harps. And if I had been aborted who here on earth is to say that it wouldn't have been God's plan? Isn't that where we all want to end up anyway?

Thanks for this thread- it reminds me how "O" so important this election is. I'll be sure to vote.

Peace, Liz

P.S. I love my a-parents too..........and my b-mom. I'm still pro-Choice though.

[Jody M]

Hi Liz from Jody, thanks for sharing and it is wonderful that you do not take personal offense at your birth mother's honesty. Many adoptees have an extremely hard time feeling unwanted or hearing their birth mothers say they wanted to abort. They take it personally and it sadly impacts their self-esteem and feelings of worth. One of my passions is to help adoptees see who they are in their heavenly Father's eyes. That each persons has immeasureable value and worth and purpose on this earth.
Blessings to you and I know that on these forums that we can differ on our views and the candidates we support. But we can embrace each other and our adoption stories and support one another.
Thanks Liz for sharing!
Jody

[EZ2Luv]

About a year ago someone one a forum not adoption related had a siggy that said Sometimes Rejection is God's way of Protection" and boy did I ever get a lightbulb moment. Such a confirmation of the life God spared me from. I too became exceptionally grateful when I found out who my bmom was(I knew her all my life) and the very moment her identity was revealed it was like"Thank God I dodged that bullet"

EZ

[BrockBaby]

Just for the record...I too, am VERY glad that I was adopted. God had His hand on my life in such a mighty way. The thing with my bmom, all I heard was how much she loved me, talked to me, wanted to keep me, ect, ect. ect. Not until she saw it as a way of manipulating me, did her "maybe" having an abortion come up. This was the same visit that she told me that I had to honor her because in God's eyes SHE was my mother...not my other mom! But don't worry...I told her that God esteemed adopted mothers as the mother as well...after all WE are ADOPTED by Him!!!!! My self worth is not in danger....but it still upsets me how flippant she is, because I KNOW the motives behind it. But never fear, I started to go to an AWESOME Christian counselor last week...to start to deal with my feelings about all of this. I KNOW that God wants me to "move forward" and some of the things I feel will make doing that difficult. The "hates" gotta go...

[Jody M]

Thanks Brock Baby for your sharing and insights into your adoption reunion and experiences with your birth mother. Its wonderful to know that you are able to walk in wisdom and embrace your God given worth and recognize manipulation. It still hurts when those we reach out and desire to love unconditionally can hurt us with words. May God bless you and encourage you mightily as you seek Christian counsel to heal and grow strong in the Lord and your identity.
Blessings to you!
Jody

[BrockBaby]

Part of my issue is that I don't love her. I thought I would...I loved the idea of her since I was young. But, getting to know her, I just don't love her. As a matter of fact, right now, if I am being honest...I don't even like her. Sigh....hopefully I can get past this.

[SWGAgirl]

BrockBaby-

Well if you don't love her- just realize that God does love her...............so let HIM love her for you for a while. Sometimes the realization that God loves EVERYONE since He created all of us can soften your feelings towards a person you really dislike. It does for me at least. God's grace wins in the end.

Peace, LIZ